I didn’t read a book till I was 21. Until then it was comics that moulded my view of the world. Every week I bought the Dandy and the Beano and got lost in the fabulous worlds of Dennis the Menace, Desperate Dan and Minnie the Minx.

On the back page it always said “Published by DC Thomson and Co Ltd, Dundee”. I didn’t know where Dundee was, but I was pretty sure it had lots of hapless teachers in mortarboards, slipper-wielding dads, and piles of sausage-studded mashed potato.

Last November, I visited the DC Thomson headquarters. Just seeing the company’s name on the brass plaque outside brought a tear to my eye.

From an upstairs window I looked down upon the gates of an old school. It was the sight of released-into-the-wild children, pouring through this door at home-time, some 50 years ago, that inspired the comic artist, Leo Baxendale, to create The Bash Street Kids.

That raw material — the vitality and humour of a crazed bunch of Dundee schoolchildren — was transformed into comic magic that had me, and millions of kids like me, completely transfixed.

I spoke to DC Thomson’s current artist-in-residence as he sat at his desk, beside a pile of his drawings in various stages of completion.

He showed me how the characters begin as a series of coiling lines — the movement and energy making even these rough, preliminary sketches seem vibrant and alive.

Maybe it was that same core energy that drew me in as a kid.

In the archive room, picking my way, open-mouthed, through original artwork from 40 years ago was like looking at old family snapshots — Walter the Softie’s friend, Dudley Nightshirt; General Jumbo’s remote control (which I, as a child, recreated with a soup can, a knitting needle and some Plasticine) and numerous variations on the cow pie.

Whereas the obsessions of adulthood come and go, the things that capture our imagination as children seem to stay with us, at some deep level, for ever.

The Beano and Dandy will always be in my blood.

Frank Skinner On The Road, a follow-up to his UK best-selling autobiography, is available now. His brand new live DVD, Frank Skinner Stand-up, is also on sale. For more details see www.frankskinnerlive.com.

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